Fluorescents

17

A/N: my first day of school was a couple days ago(yay woohoo😅) so bare with me lol. I have several chapters ready already but I always forget to post them lol (I'm so sorry) but yeah just comment if you want me to update!! I'll more than likely do it the instant the notification pops up on my phone.

" and everybody's watching her, but she's looking at you-ou."

The catchy and repetitive pop song plays in the background of the radio station as we step in. I scrunch my nose in disgust when I notice the song playing and I try my best to ignore the horrid noise but it becomes difficult when Derek stands next to me humming along to the song. I really wish we had the same music taste. I may have to rethink our possible friendship¿ if he's going to constantly play music like the one playing.

" Hey guys." A short man with black hair and highlights says over excitedly while extending his hand out for Alex to shake.

" Hey mate." Jamie says shaking the man's hand as Alex stands next to him, ignoring the man's gesture and instead taking a swig from his flask. I roll my eyes at his behavior and look towards Derek. He sighs heavily before shrugging down at me. Me and him both disapprove of Alex's behavior but what can we really do? We're not his parents.

" We've got everything set up for you guys but you're a little late so we're going to have to cut the interview a little short." The short man informs them and they all nod. I can't help but feel like Alex wasted time on purpose. He hasn't been very keen on showing his interest in working so far. Who knows, maybe he purposely took his time in order to avoid staying here for that long. " Just follow me." The man says in a cheerful matter before beginning to trot farther into the radio station.

Lauren pulls Alex's short sleeve on his button up before muttering something into his ear before removing herself from him and approaching Derek. She mutters something into his ear as well before he nods. I decide to ignore them and gaze around and watch as people rustle around, moving CDs and exchanging paperwork. Soon enough we reach a decent sized room with rows of plastic chairs lined up and at the front sits a large sofa along with a smaller love seat. The man points the band towards the front of the room and they pile onto the large sofa while Derek leads me towards the back of the row of chairs. He sits me down before gazing down at me with a sweet smile.

" I'll be right back." He says and I nod before he steps away from me and makes his way towards the band. I watch him from the back as he speaks to the band in a harsh tone after Lauren follows the short man away from the band. I can't hear exactly what he's saying but I can tell that he's not exactly asking them how there day has been.

Derek continues speaking to them and I watch as Alex almost instantly loses interest and begins to gaze around at the room before his eyes land on me. I suck in a sharp breath as our eyes meet and a smirk pulls at his lips. He nods his head towards me before biting down on his lip and giving me a sly smirk. My mouth goes dry and I look away, anticipating the end of Derek's lecture. I hear a snapping noise and as I gaze back up, Derek snaps his fingers in front of Alex's face. He is their tour manager and is in charge of this whole tour but I can help but notice how he seems to be so confident around them and doesn't seem to care if he comes off rude. How long has he known them for? Or is that just the way he behaves? He doesn't seem to be that rude towards me and he's my boss as well.

" Hey." Derek says snapping his fingers and waving his hand in front of Alex's face before gazing back at the meaning of his disinterest towards the lecture. Our eyes meet and his unamused face returns as he begins to direct his agitation towards the smug man in front of him who is now staring at him with a wide grin.  " Can you just listen and behave." Derek groans and Alex shrugs his shoulder before pulling out his flask and bringing it towards his lips. But before he can take another swig Derek's hand launches forward and takes it from him. He loves messing with people, I bet he gets off on it. " What the hell is your problem?" Derek asks with a cold scoff. Alex pulls his flask from Derek's hand before taking a swig, neither of them removing their burning gaze from one another. Derek raises an eyebrow at him and Alex shrugs his shoulders and leans back into the couch, letting his wide grin return. He doesn't even seem bothered by the poor way that Derek is treating him.

" Why don't we all just calm down, lads." Matt buds in, easing away the tension between the two that seems to have drifted into the air. Alex laughs lightly as Derek hovers over him with clenched fists and I quickly react, raising myself before chaos strikes.

" Hey Derek, can you help me find the bathrooms." I say thinking of the first thing that pops into my head. I don't want to make him think that I'm getting involved in his business so I just decided last minute to come up with a lame excuse that ultimately works.

" Yeah." He says, nodding his head while his eyes are still fixed on the almost demonic man sitting in front of him. Eventually though he reverts his attention away from him and we begin to make our way through the station until we find a bathroom. I don't actually have to go but I might as well continue going along with it.

" Everything ok?" I ask, trying my best to make it seem like a friendly and polite gesture instead of a nosey question. He nods his head and I stay silent the rest of the way there, not bothering to show interest in him and Alex's intense interaction with one another from earlier. If he doesn't want to talk about it, it's ok. It's none of my business.

" Here ya go." He says reaching his hand out to point toward a door that has the ladies sign nailed onto it. I give him a nod and enter inside. I look in the mirror and fix my hair, simply for the sake of letting time pass before flushing the toilet and making my way out.

Me and Derek begin to make our way back when I step out and neither of us bother to mutter a word to one another on the walk back. When we finally arrive the room is transformed and is full of dozens of people sitting on the plastic chairs, conversing. Derek leads me towards some chairs in the back and I quickly become upset. I wasn't hoping to sit in the very front and be able to see Alex face to face but I was hoping that our spot would be closer towards the middle so I could get a better view of the band and their performance. This will be my first time listening to them and I was hoping it could be an enjoyable show.

" Their music isn't that good." Derek comments as we take a seat. He must have noticed me searching for a better seat as we made our way towards these. I nod my head but ignore his comment. He clearly doesn't have the same music taste as mine. Who knows maybe the band is great. 'Or maybe they're horrible' the other part of me adds. It doesn't matter anyway, it's a free show.

The man at the front begins to speak to the band and I sit in my spot while Derek scrolls through his phone. Shortly after I lose interest in the people conversing in the front and I pull out my phone as well. I open up Twitter and scroll through my mentions. They're mostly from Cage The Elephant fan's that know me as one of their closest friends.

After touring with them I gained social media attention and fortunately their fans were all chill enough and have never attacked me. There have been several trolls that have made hateful comments towards me but that was during the beginning of our friendship and they have mostly all vanished. So now all my social media platforms receive sweet comments and or messages from their fans. Some people have even claimed to be my fan which is sort of ridiculous but I tend to just go along with it.

I continue scrolling through my phone until my eyes land on a tweet from a girl with a familiar @.

@CagesCuddles- Matt looks so lonely without Jocelyn (picture image)

I open up the image and see a paparazzi picture of me and Matt laughing while stuffing our mouths with sushi. I smile down at the picture that captured the perfect memory before I continue to scroll and see the second image attached to the tweet. A frown instantly implants my lips when I scroll and see a picture of Matt sitting alone, at the sushi bar we always go to together, with a bored expression on his face. My heart aches and I quickly exit Twitter and try to control my emotions. I was aware that it would be difficult to be apart from them while I'm on tour & they're back at home but I wasn't aware how agonizing it would be. Tears threaten to prick my eyes and I open up my messages.

A guitar strums at the front of the room and I gaze away from my phone and look up to see Alex holding an acoustic guitar. When he doesn't continue on I look down at my phone again and I type a quick "I miss you" message to Matt. The phone begins to show that he is typing and I'm anticipating his reply but before I can see his response I am taken away from my phone when a voice begins to sing from the front of the room.